Chapter 6: The Female Corpse in the School Building (6)

After work, instead of returning to the station, Meng Siqi took the bus straight home.

As soon as she entered, she saw her mother, Ye Xiuhui, waving at her from the sofa. “Come here, I have something to show you.”

Ye Xiuhui was holding a photograph.

Meng Siqi set down her bag and walked over. It was rare for her mother to initiate a conversation like this.

The photo shows a middle-aged man with a decent appearance. The photo must have been retouched, as there are traces of modification in some places, so he looks younger and fairer overall.

“Did he go missing? Or was he murdered?” Meng Siqi asked bluntly. She and her mother rarely had heart-to-heart talks, so she got straight to the point.

“Don’t jinx it!” Ye Xiuhui glared at her. “This is someone I’m introducing to you as a potential match.”

“A match?” Meng Siqi was stunned. She had never expected anyone to set her up with someone, let alone a man who looked this much older.

She frowned. “He must be forty.”

“Forty-one,” Ye Xiuhui corrected, smiling. “He’s a successful company manager with great looks and a promising career. He’s been too busy with work to settle down. Your father knows him, and it took a lot of effort to get him to agree to meet you. Oh, I almost forgot—here’s his business card.”

This was the longest conversation her mother had ever had with her about a man. Ye Xiuhui even seemed excited about it, as if this was a perfect match.

Meng Siqi glanced at the photo and business card, then casually tossed them onto the sofa. “If he’s so great, why doesn’t he have a girlfriend? I don’t buy it.”

Ye Xiuhui’s face darkened. “What do you mean? Do you think I didn’t do my research?”

“If a man has everything going for him but still can’t find a woman, then there’s probably something wrong with him.” Meng Siqi grabbed her bag and headed upstairs without another word.

“You—You have no manners!” Ye Xiuhui shouted, her voice shaking with frustration.

The next day at work, Meng Siqi thought about the man her mother mentioned and decided to ask Zhao Leiting, “If I only have a person’s name and job title, can I find out more details about them?”

Zhao Leiting put down his pen and grinned confidently. “Of course! And I won’t even need to use any police resources. I can find it out for you on my own.”

She handed him a slip of paper. Zhao Leiting asked, “This guy isn’t connected to a case, is he?”

“No, a friend of mine lost some money in a business deal and thinks he got set up. I just want to help out.”

Zhao Leiting patted his chest. “Leave it to me! This will be easy!”

Meng Siqi smirked. “Oh, really?”

After spending time at the station, she felt that her relationships with her colleagues had improved. Zhao Leiting, in particular, was around her age and easy to talk to. Because of that, she found herself sharing more things with him.

The next day, Zhao Leiting placed a sheet filled with handwritten notes on Meng Siqi’s desk. She looked at the densely packed information and felt a deep sense of admiration. She lifted her head and smiled at him in gratitude.

Zhao Leiting smirked and said, “I told you before, if this were ancient times, I would be the top strategist of the Eastern Depot!”

The Eastern Depot was a famous intelligence agency during the Ming Dynasty, led by the eunuch in charge. Meng Siqi laughed and said, “Master Zhao, thank you very much!”

“Lady Meng, mind your words!”

“Ha ha…”

Meng Siqi’s laughter was not loud, but it still caught Feng Shaomin’s attention.

The office was not large. Meng Siqi’s desk was positioned closer to the entrance, near Zhao Leiting, while Feng Shaomin’s desk was further inside, closer to Han Changlin. Everyone’s desks were piled with books and office supplies, creating enough separation that they would not disturb one another.

However, when people spoke too loudly, it was inevitable that others would overhear. Meng Siqi quickly covered her mouth. She was somewhat apprehensive of Feng Shaomin. He rarely smiled, always looked serious, and did not enjoy socializing. Because of this, she never figured out how to approach him.

After Zhao Leiting walked away, Meng Siqi picked up the “intelligence report.” In reality, it was just a simple personal profile and itinerary, nothing confidential, as all the information was publicly available. However, the fact that Zhao Leiting could gather all this so quickly was still impressive.

Among the many details, a few key phrases stood out to Meng Siqi: “Investor,” “Divorced a few years ago,” and “Son studying in the United States.”

So much for being a successful bachelor who was too busy with work to settle down. Clearly, Ye Xiuhui had been lying to her.

With a sigh, she prepared to shred the paper when a familiar name caught her eye—”Shangyin Mall.”

That was the very same shopping mall owned by her father and brother.

So, this man had recently been negotiating an investment deal with Shangyin Mall.

Meng Siqi clenched the paper tightly and crumpled it into a ball.

Even as the biological daughter of the Meng family, she was still being used as a bargaining chip in their business deals.

That night, Meng Siqi did not return home. She stayed at the police station. In truth, even if she had gone home, Ye Xiuhui would not have asked about her whereabouts or worried about her safety. Perhaps her mother believed that, given her status, nothing could ever happen to her.

The next day, Zhou Jieli’s husband, Zhao Guanghui, was discharged from the hospital and came to the station to claim her body. He still looked weak, but his demeanor had changed. He carried an air of guilt and sorrow, taking the time to personally thank each officer in the second unit.

Han Changlin said, “Xiao Zhao, Xiao Meng, take Mr. Zhao to identify the body.”

“Understood, Captain Han.”

A few minutes later, Zhao Leiting led the way to the morgue. The frigid air made the atmosphere even more somber. The staff expertly unzipped the body bag.

The moment Zhou Jieli’s face was revealed, Zhao Guanghui lunged forward and collapsed onto her body, his voice choked with sobs. “Lili… how could you leave me…”

The morgue was eerily silent, its cold and gloomy environment making it even more unsettling.

Meng Siqi hated places like this. Zhao Guanghui’s cries only added to the eerie atmosphere.

She took a step back, inching closer to the door, but with Zhao Leiting by her side, she held her ground.

As Zhao Guanghui prepared to leave, Meng Siqi couldn’t hold back her curiosity and asked, “Mr. Zhao, you loved your wife very much, but I heard that you once had a heated argument with her at the school?”

Zhao Guanghui let out a long sigh, filled with regret. He hesitated before answering, “She wanted a divorce, but I refused.”

“So after that argument, she decided to live separately from you?”

From Meng Siqi’s perspective, if Zhou Jieli had any attachment to their home, or if Zhao Guanghui had agreed to the divorce, maybe her fate would have been different.

“It was my fault,” Zhao Guanghui admitted, though his tone was oddly calm. “I lied to her about driving a taxi. In reality, I was out gambling and drinking. I enjoyed that kind of life… Until one day, she found out, and she asked for a divorce… Do you think I would ever agree to that?”

“I loved her so much!” Zhao Guanghui nearly gritted his teeth as he spoke.

Love could be terrifying at times.

Meng Siqi took out a folded piece of paper she had prepared in advance and handed it to Zhao Guanghui.

It was a divorce agreement, worn from repeated folding.

Zhao Guanghui immediately recognized it. His fingers trembled slightly as he held the paper.

“Did you ever notice,” Meng Siqi said, “that your wife never signed her name on this agreement?”

Zhao Guanghui froze. He picked up the document and stared at the signature line, his gaze fixed as if nailed to the spot.

“You were always too drunk to pay attention. At the end of the agreement, she even left a note: If you could turn your life around, she would return to you like before…”

Zhao Guanghui clutched the paper tightly, his grip growing stronger, as if holding onto a memory that was slipping away. His shoulders shook, and he finally broke down, sobbing into his hands.

As his arms lifted, the sleeves of his sweater slid down, revealing the cuffs of his shirt underneath.

At that moment, Meng Siqi’s mind was thrown into turmoil.

The silver cufflinks on his sleeves bore a unique leaf-patterned design—the exact same design she had seen in her memory.

Her lips trembled as she struggled to ask, “Was it you? Did you kill Zhou Jieli?”

Zhao Guanghui’s sobs suddenly stopped.

“Why did you kill her?” Meng Siqi could no longer control her emotions. Her voice almost turned into a furious demand.

Zhao Guanghui slowly raised his head. In that instant, his expression changed entirely, his eyes turning dark and sinister. “What are you talking about? What nonsense are you spouting?”

Meng Siqi felt as if she had just unlocked the final piece of a puzzle. Her voice rang out loudly. “That night, you found your wife being attacked, but you didn’t save her. When you entered the room, she was still alive. She woke up, and you… you strangled her. You could have saved her! What kind of hatred made you choose to kill her instead?”

“What evidence do you have?”

“Evidence?” Meng Siqi let out a bitter laugh. “You never expected this, did you? That your wife still loved you. You thought she had stopped loving you, that she wanted to leave you, so you decided to kill her. You will spend the rest of your life trapped in the agony of your own cruelty!”

Her voice was firm and powerful, causing Zhao Guanghui’s entire body to tremble. His grin was twisted, almost deranged. “Even if I did, so what? Where is your evidence? Evidence?”

Facing his hysteria, Meng Siqi became even calmer. “Don’t you find it strange? There is a deep ring mark inside the strangulation bruise on Zhou Jieli’s neck. You strangled her, then carefully wiped away your fingerprints, but you could never erase the deep indentation left behind!”

She grabbed his wrist forcefully, lifting his hand in front of his eyes. The golden ring on his finger was as wide as a coin. “Come on, let’s match it with the mark on her neck right now!”

Meng Siqi had been puzzled about the faint red mark on Zhou Jieli’s neck. But when she saw Zhao Guanghui clutching the divorce papers with his ring-clad hand, it became impossible to ignore the connection.

Zhao Guanghui looked as if someone had exposed the darkest part of his soul. His pupils turned red, and in a sudden burst of rage, he yanked his wrist free and lunged at Meng Siqi. His fingers wrapped around her throat as he roared, “You crazy woman! You crazy—”

“Agh—”

A searing pain ignited in her throat, and a wave of dizziness from lack of oxygen struck her. She clawed desperately at his hands, but his grip was like iron, unyielding.

Zhao Guanghui’s veins bulged as he tightened his hold, slamming her against the wall with brutal force. Her head collided hard against it with a loud “bang,” sending her into a daze. Trapped between his iron grip and the unyielding wall, her limbs weakened.

She had once envisioned the moment the killer strangled Zhou Jieli, the terror, the helplessness. Back then, she had felt a chill run through her body. But now, she truly understood the agony Zhou Jieli had endured—how the suffocation must have sent her heart into a desperate panic, clawing for even the smallest gasp of air.

Boom!

A dull thud echoed.

The steel grip around her throat loosened instantly.

She hunched over, gasping frantically, gulping down air as if it were the most precious thing in the world. Between her labored coughs, Zhao Guanghui staggered backward, clutching his head where the punch had landed.

Zhao Leiting wasted no time. He followed up with a brutal punch to Zhao Guanghui’s stomach. As the man let out a cry of pain, Zhao Leiting swiftly subdued him, twisting his arm behind his back and pinning him firmly to the ground.

Still unsatisfied, Zhao Leiting cursed, “Attacking a police officer? You must have a death wish!” He pressed his knee harshly into Zhao Guanghui’s spine.

Zhao Guanghui’s face was half-pressed against the cold cement floor. His bloodshot eyes burned with defiance and rage as he struggled, grunting through clenched teeth.

The hallway leading to the morgue was usually deserted. But the commotion had drawn several officers, who hurried over.

A female colleague rushed to Meng Siqi, concerned. “Are you okay? Do you need to go to the hospital?”

Meng Siqi rubbed her sore throat with her fingertips. The pain was sharp but not unbearable. She felt much better after a few breaths. Clearing her throat, she found that aside from the lingering discomfort and dizziness, she was fine.

Zhao Leiting snapped the handcuffs onto Zhao Guanghui’s wrists before looking up at Meng Siqi with admiration and concern. “Impressive. Who would’ve thought the real culprit was someone else? Are you sure you’re okay, Meng Siqi?”